Chlorinated hydrocarbons represent a class of toxic contaminants frequently found in ground water near industrial sites. Traditional techniques for remediation of toxic waste sites have used physical-chemical approaches such as solvent or surfactant treatments, in situ chemical oxidation, or excavation. However, such approaches are not suitable or cost effective for many sites due to the underlying geo-chemical characteristics, cost considerations, and/or size of contaminant plumes. Accordingly, there is a desire for bioremediation approaches which are relatively inexpensive, non-invasive and are able to convert toxic organic contaminants into non-toxic end products.
Chlorinated hydrocarbons are a class of toxic chemicals found frequently at such contaminated sites. Various chloroethenes and halogenated ethanes have been employed as solvents for many industrial applications. For example, solvents such as TCE have resulted in extensive ground water contamination. Contaminated sites can undergo a partial reductive dechlorination through various naturally occurring abiotic and biotic processes resulting in the formation of toxic intermediates such as dichloroethenes (DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). The complete detoxification of chlorinated hydrocarbons requires reductive dechlorination to non-chlorinated end products such as ethene.
There does exist within the prior art a variety of microorganisms and remediation protocols which have been shown to achieve a reduction in chlorinated hydrocarbon levels. However, improvements and advancements are needed to increase efficiency, achieve desirable end products, achieve greater tolerance to high levels of contaminants, and address various forms of chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement and variation within the art.